Innocent Blood

Director - John Landis (Blues Brothers)
Starring - Anne Parillaud (The Man in the Iron Mask), Robert Loggia (Scarface), and Anthony LaPaglia (Happy Feet)
Release - 1992
Genre - Horror/Crime/Comedy
Tagline - "For generations, the Mafia preyed on the innocent.  Tonight, someone's feasting on them," "A movie that goes straight for the jugular,"and "A comedy that takes a bite out of crime"
Format - DVD (Personal Collection)
Favorite Quote - "I can hear an angel fart"

Rating (out of 5):

     Growing up I was a huge fan of John Landis' films.  I loved National Lampoon's Animal House and The Blues Brothers but I was unaware of who directed them.  As I got older I started looking up the cast and crew behind some of my favorite films and discovered a lot of them were directed by John Landis.  So naturally, I wanted to collect what films of his I could find.  A few months ago I was at FYE and was looking at their used section because they were running a special on used DVDs.  I found a huge selection of Innocent Blood for only $2.  I was pretty happy about that but I was also skeptical.  A movie in a large quantity for a ridiculously low price made it seem like the movie was horrible.  If it sucked, at least I could add it to my collection, and if it was good, then I got a good movie really cheap.

     Marie, a vampire, is a starving because she only feeds on the corrupt.  She is currently living in Pittsburgh and is relying on the mafia as her source of food.  Before heading out to feed she tells the audience of the two rules she lives by.  The first is to never play with her food and the second is to always finish her meal, i.e. destroy the brain.  Joe, an undercover cop, has got close to the Macelli family.  The family is run by "Sal the Shark" who is a ruthless mob boss.  Joe owes his survival to a friend in the family.  However, that same friend picks up Marie one night and she feeds on him.  Joe is now distraught that his best friend is dead and rushes to the crime scene.  The press get wind of this and Joe is removed from his assignment.  Sal now wants his head on a plate and Joe is pissed he was not able to see this through after 3 years undercover.  On the following night, Marie sets out to bag her another mobster, this time Sal's driver, but Sal intervenes and takes her back to his place for a little hide the sausage.  At first Marie plays along and this only fuels Sal.  Little by little Sal adds more and more force behind his advancements until Marie has no other option but to bite him.  Before she can finish him off he fires his gun and shoots her.  His driver is waiting outside and rushes in.  Wounded, Marie is unable to finish him off and flees.  Sal dies and news spreads of his death until it reaches Joe.  Joe is pissed that he died before he is sent to jail.  Joe heads over to the crime scene so he can help with the investigation and find Sal's killer.  While looking around outside Joe finds Marie hiding and she runs.  He is able to use a neighbor's dog and chase her down.  After a lengthy conversation, Marie lets Joe know that she is a vampire and if Sal is not properly disposed of he can kill innocent people.  Meanwhile, Sal is on a slab in the city morgue about to go under the knife and wakes up.  The pathologist and EMT are confused and scared that someone pronounced dead just got up and ran out.  The press is there wanting to hear the results of the toxicology reports when they see Sal run by.  Sal heads to the home of his lawyer and gathers a few of his goons.  Also, Sal is extremely hungry and the raw steaks the lawyer's wife is providing for him is not cutting it.   He feeds on his lawyer.  His wife catches him in the act and flees.  Sal follows but his goons stop him as a police car approaches.  The paramedics rush him to the hospital where doctors attempt to work on him.  After time he becomes conscious and attacks a nurse as the opens the shades to his room.  He starts to burn and turns to ash.  Sal sets out to turn all his mobsters and goons into vampires so he can wipe out all the families he has a feud with.  They use a strip club as a base of operations and it doesn't take long before Joe and Marie find them.  After killing all of Sal's vampire goons, he runs to the roof of the building before jumping in to traffic.  Cars lock up and skid in to each other around Sal.  When Joe and Marie make it outside Sal assumes he is unstoppable, however, he is not.  Gas is spilling for the tanks of the crashed cars and is pooling at his his feet.  Joe then uses his lighter to catch him on fire before putting a bullet in his head.

     I was worried this movie would be more of a crime drama than a horror movie...and I was right.  The movie, at least till half way through, plays more like a crime drama than an actual horror film.  However, once the horror actually starts it does not let up.  I really like crime dramas, as well as, horror films and a mash up really intrigued me.  However, this film does not pull it off that well.  The movie just drags out in the beginning and makes it extremely hard to stay interested in the film.  I liked the story and find it extremely interesting it just seemed poorly executed.  As for the acting, the film has an amazing cast and even more amazing cameos.  The film has a small role by Kim Coates, Tig from Sons of Anarchy, and Frank Oz, the voice of Yoda.  The film also has cameos by horror vets Sam Raimi, Dario Argento, and Tom Savini.  The only fault I could find with the acting is the actress who portrayed Marie.  Her french accent is authentic but at times seemed fake.  I looked at her filmography and she, is indeed, French but for some reason her accent does not seem real.  Now for the effects in the film, which are amazing.  The effects are top notch and gruesome and some scenes I rewound it a few times just to see the effects. My only complaint about this film is pacing and that is why the movie received 2 1/2 from me.  The film, during the first half, is slow and very boring.  I had to fight with myself not to turn the movie off.  The second half is what raised the rating because, based on the first half, this movie almost got a 1.  Overall, if you can survive the first half then you will definitely be entertained.